Sunday, December 9, 2007

Outside Reading Q2 Week 4

Part A: Vocab -"blanket party": when a recruit who has been falling behind in training is wrapped in a blanket and beaten with soap bars that have been stuffed inside socks by his fellow comrades. (168)-"A Line" firing: advanced rifle training which includes shooting at moving targets, firing with a gas mask on, firing in low light conditions, and fire M60 machine guns.Quote -"During those days I realized what it felt like to not be part of the platoon. So I thought about being like everybody else. I wasn't fighting it anymore. I wasn't scared anymore. I all of a sudden got the drive I needed, that some guys had the whole time" (170). This quote stood out to me because of its character. Here is a recruit that hasn't really been fitting in or doing well in any of the exercises, but he doesn't lack spirit. He has an encounter with himself and decides to bust his ass for the rest of boot camp and actually ends up graduating in the top 10 of his class.

Part B: For this part, I am choosing to relate this to my life. I want to actually relate to the quote and its meaning that I listed above. The amount of commitment that Recruit Buijis has and that is exemplified through that quote is incredible and that's why I want to relate it to my life.

I believe that this amount of dedication and perseverance can be helpful to me right now as I am going through ski tryouts. I am a great skier, but I have never raced in my life so this experience is something totally new to me. Originally going into tryouts I thought that it would be a piece of cake and it was until our first day skiing a race course. Number one, I don't have the proper equipment yet to ski the course efficiently, but I;m not going to use this as an excuse. Mainly, I am just not familiar with racing technique. The first run down the course was a disaster. I couldn't complete it without going out of the course and thisoccurred repeatedly for many more times. I became very frustrated with myself and was beginning to doubt my ability to make the team. I just thought that racing wasn't for me and I should give up. I came across this portion of my book the night I got home and had a realization. By Buijis's example, I decided to keep trying and improving, and it worked! I went to ski practice the next day and tried as hard as I could on every drill and that night he announced who had made the team and I did! I am going to continue hustling and working hard, but I credit my success to Recruit Buijis and hisperfect example of commitment and courage. Thanks Buijis.